what is the humor in as you like it act 1

There are different kinds of humour through act one and the whole play. While Touchstone's humour is on the bawdy side it can also be cutting and witty,

TOUCHSTONE

Stand you both forth now: stroke your chins, and

swear by your beards that I am a knave.

CELIA

By our beards, if we had them, thou art.

TOUCHSTONE

By my knavery, if I had it, then I were. But if you

swear by that that not, you are not forsworn; no more was this

knight, swearing by his honour, for he never had any; or if he

had, he had sworn it away before ever he saw those pancakes or

that mustard.

On the surface of things, Touchstones retort doesn't make a lot of sense but when examined closely, it does. Here Touchstone argues that he can't be called a "knave" because he can't be accused of being a lier if he had no honour to begin with. There are also the biting discourse between Celia and Rosalind about gender equality or rather inequality.